missmarch,

I hope you check this before too much time goes by.

[A quick follow up to my original post. (I'm not technically supposed to be online right now because of docs orders, but I thought I'd give an update, and then I am off again for my "neuro shut down" per docs orders,]

You sound like you have been given 'old school' advise. The recent best research shows that gentle stimulation is best. You are long past the 'neuro shut down' time. You should be working with gentle stimulation. The injured brain needs good blood flow for best recovery. Mild activity that does not cause an increase in symptoms is best. If you do something that makes you feel fatigued and like you could take a short nap, take a short nap.

Besides not providing the brain with good blood flow, the isolation can contribute to depression and anxiety.

[(WEEK 2) I have reached out to a chiropractor specializing in sports concussions, an audiologist for my hearing issues, and forced my gp doctor to book (begrudgingly) an appointment with an ENT specialist. (He was ****** off at me for reaching out to others for help and informed me that they, in fact, "aren't real doctors".) ]

Your GP does not sound like he is 'real experienced' in concussions. Is this the doc who prescribe lorazepam ? A common 'rookie' treatment to get the patient to settle down.

[I have been taken off work by the chiropractor who confirmed through multiple tests and frequent reassessments, that I have sustained a rather severe concussion, my ct scan came back positive, so no major damage to my skull, I am doing daily eye exercises, have been told to avoid ear plugs and busy environments. ]

Frequent assessments can be problematic and cause needless over-stimulation to the brain and injury to the wallet. Once a month should be adequate. Is he a chiro-neuro (Carrick trained) ?

A good CT Scan result is a negative result, negative finding of injury. Positive would mean a positive finding of injury.

[Progress so far includes; less headaches, less insomnia, less anxiety (I stopped taking the lorazepam because I hate how it feels and I don't like medications that can become a dependence), less eye strain (other than when I am doing my eye exercises, they are headache inducing, frustrating, stomach turning, and I hate them, in general)]

Are you being treated by a behavior optometrist ? You just mentioned that your eyes get tired and hurt but nothing about any diagnostics.

[My biggest problems right now/still are; exhaustion, slow reactions to visual and auditory stimulation, focusing my brain on targets, moodiness/shortness in conversations, confusion, forgetting my thoughts spontaneously mid-sentence, an absolute hatred for any environment that involves more than one noise at a time or specific noises, like road noise, fireplace fan, florescent lights, bells, squeaky doors, hand driers, dishes, some peoples voices, my own voice, etc.. ]

Please give yourself time to heal. The single sound problem may be the last to improve. It is often related to a slow to heal injury such as a diffuse axonal injury. Axons heal slowly and need good nutrition (B-12 and folic acid). It takes a lot of brain processing power to filter out background sounds. Your brain is already using all the power it has to process your vision and hearing.

I often tell people that many of us can either process the words or the sentences but struggle to process both if the person is speaking with a strong accent. It is a processing capacity struggle.

The forgetting thoughts mid-sentence is likely due to distractions. Your thoughts get interrupted by a visual or audio distraction. I find closing my eyes can help me stay with my thought.

[I've read a bit about hyperacusis and I think, besides the almost certain perforated ear drum acknowledged by the audiologist and chiropractor, (but NOT by my GP), I am also dealing with that.]

Did the ENT check you for a perforated ear drum ? Your lack of sync between right and left can be due to inflammation of the auditory nerve fibers or stress/damage to the myelin sheath surrounding the auditory nerve. Damage can influence the speed that the nerves function. An Auditory Evoked Potential test would likely identify a difference in nerve conduction speed. Neuros can order them. ENTs and audiologists can, too.

[I better stop and get back to the nothingness of "no computers, no phone, no reading, low voices, no busy environments, etc. Basically, hermitting in my basement.]

Your eyes will likely do better with a full size computer screen rather than the small fast scrolling screen of a smart phone. fLUX can reduce brightness/glare and such from a computer screen. https://justgetflux.com/

I hope you can find some low stress activities to encourage good brain blood flow.

Just know that no matter how tough this is, things will get better.

My best to you.